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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: capital · tear · snap · calf · wave · stem

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. stem — to come from
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. capital — money
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. tear — from crying
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. snap — to click
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. tear — from crying
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. tear — to rip
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. stem — of a plant

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com